Betty Compson Movies
A stunningly beautiful blond superstar of the silent era, Betty Compson was billed as the "Vagabond Violinist." She started her career on vaudeville at age 15. Three years later she landed a continuing role in movies as the heroine of dozens of Al Christie's comedy shorts, work she continued for three years. Her rise to stardom as a dramatic actress began with her role opposite Lon Chaney in The Miracle Man (1919). She went on to be one of Hollywood's top stars in the '20s, earning as much as $5000/week. Her career was an up-and-down affair, and several times she was labelled "washed up" only to bounce back again. She was nominated for a "Best Actress" Oscar for her work in The Barker (1928). She made the transition into the sound era, but after 1941 made only a few additional films, retiring from the screen after a bit part in the 1948 "B"-movie Here Comes Trouble. She later became a successful California businesswoman. ~ All Movie Guide
Hoping to start up where he left off before his studio was taken over by the government during WWII, Hal Roach turned out a brief series of "streamliners" (short-length feature films) under the umbrella title Hal Roach's Laff-Time. The third entry in this series was Here Comes Trouble, a Cinecolor attempt to revive a popular Roach military-comedy series from the early 1940s. William Tracy and Joe Sawyer return respectively as Doubleday and Ames, erstwhile army buddies with a predilection for trouble. Now in civilian clothes, Doubleday, he of the photographic memory, becomes a newspaper reporter, while the long-suffering Ames joins the police force. It doesn't take long for our heroes to become involved in a hectic search for a valuable missing diary. Former silent screen star Betty Compson provides a touch of class in the role of newspaper publisher's wife. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Sawyer, Emory Parnell, (more)
- 1947
One of the many Bowery Boys movies, in this one Slip and Sach are mistaken for two private investigators and risk their lives trying to solve a missing persons mystery. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1947
In this crime melodrama, two would-be jewel thieves conspire to pull a heist, but are frustrated because the police are able to successfully anticipate their every move and stop them. Later the thieves fall in love and it is then that the female thief admits that she is a detective who was hired by an insurance company to stop him. She then pleads with him to give up crime, but he doesn't, so she rats on him and justice is served. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kent Taylor, Louise Currie, (more)
- 1946
Dorothy McGuire and Robert Young reprise their roles from the film Claudia, which followed the titular young couple as they dealt with the trials of parenthood. Claudia, a bit wiser than she was in the first film but still charmingly naive and a bit nervous, is struggling with the responsibilities of motherhood when a fortune teller predicts that something horrible will happen to her husband. Since David is soon to travel to the West Coast on business, Claudia tries to persuade him not to go, even though it could mean losing his job. Claudia is next convinced that the baby has contracted a fatal illness, though it turns out to be nothing more than the measles. And jealousy creeps into the relationship when Elizabeth (Mary Astor) starts consulting David on a building project, while Claudia is attracting the uninvited attentions of Phil (John Sutton), who happens to be married. Like its predecessor, Claudia and David was based on a series of short stories by Rose Franken, which also inspired a successful stage play and radio series. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy McGuire, Robert Young, (more)
- 1946
Teenaged Junior (Scotty Beckett) gets into trouble when he tries to bring a gun to school. To explain why he's packing a rod, Beckett fabricates a story involving his parents Bill (Dennis O'Keefe) and Constance (Helen Walker). To hear Junior tell it, once upon a time Bill was a telephone lineman who made the chance acquaintance of the eloping Constance. Both parties were forcibly detained by fleeing criminal Carter (Tom Powers), who shepherded hero and heroine to the home of Petrucie (Charles Judels). Here Bill overpowered Carter, winning Constance's love in the process. His tale told, Junior explains that he's carrying a gun to arrest his principal-who happens to be Carter! As a result of the boy's prevarications, his parents and the principal end up in jail, but are rescued when Junior solves the 15-year-old mystery that prompted his incredible tale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis O'Keefe, Helen Walker, (more)
- 1943
A young woman and her two buddies team up to run her newly inherited trucking company. In this comedy, the trouble begins when they agree to haul some gambling equipment to Vegas, get caught and tossed into the hoosegow. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Invisible Ghost is far from the best of Bela Lugosi's Monogram vehicles (if indeed there is such a thing), but with Joseph H. Lewis at the controls it is far and away the best directed. Lugosi is cast as Kessler, an otherwise normal gentleman who goes balmy whenever he thinks about his late wife (Betty Compson). It gets worse when Kessler is transformed via hypnosis into an unwitting murderer, apparently at the behest of his wife's ghost. An innocent man (John McGuire) is executed for Kessler's first murder, but the victim's twin brother (also John McGuire) teams with Kessler's daughter (Polly Ann Young) to determine the identity of the true killer. Though cheaply made, The Invisible Ghost maintains an appropriately spooky atmosphere throughout, with Lugosi delivering a full-blooded performance as a basically decent man controlled by homicidal impulses beyond his ken. Best of all is the non-stereotypical performance by african-american actor Clarence Muse as Lugosi's articulate, take-charge butler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bela Lugosi, Polly Ann Young, (more)
The outwardly respectable middle-aged couple behind Hollywood's most successful escort service finds their lucrative empire unexpectedly threatened when their daughter returns home from a surprise visit in the arms of an undercover investigator from the District Attorney. For the right price, Ruth Ashley and Greg Stone will find any man a suitable companion. Their clandestine prostitution business presided over by stealthy ex-con Breezy Nolan, Ruth and Greg use their wealth to send unsuspecting daughter June away to an expensive boarding school in hopes of protecting her from the ugly truth. When June drops in for a surprise visit with handsome beau Drake Hamilton, however, the seams in the ruse finally begin to show. Unbeknownst to June, Drake is an undercover investigator from the District Attorney's office who's been sent to gather enough evidence to have the business shut down, and her parents prosecuted. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
In Hitchcock's rare foray into comedy (courtesy of a wittily risque script by Norman Krasna), Mr. Smith (Robert Montgomery) makes the mistake of telling Mrs. Smith (Carole Lombard) that if he had it to do all over again, he might not have married her. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Smith discovers that his marriage is invalid. Rather than say goodbye, the newly aroused Mr. Smith attempts to entice Mrs. Smith into the bedroom, thrilled at the prospect of an "illicit" romance. But Mrs. Smith has also been apprised that her marriage is no more--and, remembering Mr. Smith's "second thoughts", she kicks him out of the house. This comedy of misunderstanding rolls merrily along from this point onward, accommodating an uproarious scene at a fancy restaurant, a near-liaison between Mrs. Smith and new beau Gene Raymond on the World's Fair parachute jump, and a farcical denouement at a ski lodge, with Mrs. Smith's conjugally crossed skis symbolizing the carnal pleasures ahead for both Mr. and Mrs. Smith. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery, (more)
Ace police reporter Wally Williams (Wallace Ford) is so devoted to his job that he even neglects his new bride Alice (Jean Parker) on their honeymoon. Right now, Wally is covering a suicide which he suspects is actually a murder-a suspicion apparently corroborated by a cryptic note and a second mysterious death. Deciding that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, Alice decides to help Wally solve the case. For a while it looks as though hero and heroine will become murder victims themselves, but they're rescued in the nick of time by Wally's Runyonesque gangster pals. The supporting cast of Roar of the Press includes three talented actresses who deserved better: Betty Compson, Evelyn Knapp, and Dorothy Lee. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wallace Ford, Jean Parker, (more)
"Exploitation" king Willis Kent was both producer and director of the deathless cautionary fable Mad Youth. Because she doesn't have proper parental supervision, heroine Mary Ainslee falls in with an unsavory crowd and ends up working in a clip joint.Things come to a sorry pass when both Ainslee and her "playgirl" mother Betty Compson find themselves both in love with the same oily gigolo (Willy Castello). As often happened in films of this nature, all action stops dead in its tracks half-way through the proceedings for a series of risible production numbers, staged in this instance at the La Golondrina Café in Los Angeles. The most talented of the bunch is tap-dancer Betty Atkinson, who also figures peripherally in the plot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Ainslee, Betty Compson, (more)
"Strange" is right: this mystical MGM melodrama has to be the oddest of the studio's Clark Gable-Joan Crawford vehicles. When eight prisoners escape from a New Guinea penal colony, they are picked up by a sloop commandeered by another escapee named Verne (Gable) and his trollop girl friend Julie (Joan Crawford). Among the fugitives is Cambreau (Ian Hunter), a soft-spoken, messianic character who has a profound effect on his comrades. One by one, the escapees abandon their evil purposes and find God-and a peaceful death--through the auspices of the Christlike Cambreau. The last to succumb to Cambreau's ministrations is Verne, who agrees to return to return to the prison colony serve out his sentence if Julie will wait for him (which she does). A superb Franz Waxman score provides a touch of show-biz grandeur to this haunting fable. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, (more)
- 1940
Monogram's Laughing at Danger finds page-boy Frankie Kelly (Frankie Darro) trying to solve a murder at a fancy beauty salon. It so happens that the establishment is used for blackmail purposes by a gang of crooks who eavesdrop on their gossiping clientele by means of hidden microphones. When the cops prove unable to find out who killed the owner of the salon, Kelly takes over, assistant by timid but resourceful janitor Jefferson (Mantan Moreland). The film's romantic angle is handled by opera star George Houston as a police lieutenant and perennial starlet Joy Hodges as a cosmetician. Darro and Moreland work together so well that it's a shame the film's script doesn't come up to their performances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frankie Darro, Joy Hodges, (more)
- 1939
In this episode of the Three Mesquiteers series of westerns the trio must help two rival sides involved in a range war settle their differences. The story is set in 1906, and the rivals are homesteaders trying to take advantage of Roosevelt's Reclamation Act and the landowners who oppose the act and want to see the Act repealed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Livingston, Raymond Hatton, (more)
- 1939
Newspaper editor Steve Drum (Preston Foster) is willing to pull any dirty trick in the book to boost his rag's circulation. Drums's latest escapade is to blame a former criminal, now a respected politician, for a series of murders. Once the damage has been done, Drum puts on his "crusader" hat and stirs up enough public sympathy to save the politician from the electric chair. Only he's been forced to eat a few heaping helpings of humble pie does Drum redeem himself in the eyes of his long-suffering star reporter Maxine Thomas (Lynn Bari). Real-life newspapermen were mildly amused with the liberties taken in this fanciful "stop the presses" seriocomedy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Preston S. Foster, Lynn Bari, (more)
- 1939
In this drama, a vengeful woman searches for the man she blames for her sister's suicide. To get at him, the woman masquerades as a mousy maid in the tiny hotel where he stays. The story is set in Gallacia during WW I and while she enacts her plan, the Russians and Austrians take over the town. This does not stop her from getting revenge. This is a remake of a 1927 film of the same title. In Hollywood it has the legend of being a cursed production in that it suffered endless production problems and major changes in cast and crew. Originally Marlene Dietrich was to play the title role, but she and director Henry Hathaway were constantly at loggerheads. With the help of Paramount head Arthur Lubitsch, she got Hathaway to rewrite the script with Grover Jones. The new story was called I Loved a Soldier and things resumed. Unfortunately, Lubitsch had been fired and Dietrich, still miserable, abruptly quit, costing Paramount, a fortune. All production ceased, but later they resurrected the original script and tried again to make the film with Margaret Sullavan. Unfortunately, Sullavan and a co-star were horsing around one day on the set and she ended up with a broken arm. The studio heads demanded she perform the role in a sling. This was too much for Hathaway who immediately quit. Soon after, Dietrich returned with her long-time director Josef von Sternberg and said she was now willing to make Hotel Imperial. The studio heads refused and eventually the lead was given to Italian actress Isa Mira. A major sex symbol in Italy, she made this her U.S. debut. Unfortunately, she spoke little English and was forced to recite her lines phonetically. Meanwhile her co-star Ray Milland nearly died during a scene in which he had to lead a cavalry charge. During the run, he was thrown off his horse and tossed head first into a brick pile. Fortunately he only suffered a concussion. Later Hotel Imperial was remade as Five Graves to Cairo Sometimes, as in this case, the history behind the film is more interesting than the film itself, no? ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isa Miranda, Ray Milland, (more)
Filmed on the very cheap, Mystic Circle Murder (aka Religious Racketeers) is distinguished by the presence of Mme. Harry Houdini, in a rare movie appearance. The widow of the famed magician introduces the film by warning the viewer to steer clear of phony psychics who promise to communicate with the dear departed. The story proper then gets under way, with fake fakir La Gagge (Robert Fiske) fleecing wealthy widows Ada Barnard (Betty Compson) and Martha Morgan (Helene Le Berthan). Throughout the film, the many gimmicks used to sucker the gullible into believing they've reached the Great Beyond are exposed and explained. Outside of its novelty value, Mystic Circle Murder has very little to offer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Compson, Robert Fiske, (more)
Slight Case of Murder is a breakneck-paced comedy starring Edward G. Robinson as a tough but good-hearted bootlegger. When Prohibition is repealed, Robinson faces a financial crisis: His beer tastes so awful that no one wants to drink it legally. As an additional headache, Robinson is under scrutiny from the Law, which is waiting to slip the cuffs on him for the slightest infraction. He arrives at his rented Saratoga mansion with his wife (Ruth Donnelly), daughter (Jane Bryan) and adopted son (Bobby Jordan), only to discover that a killer has left four corpses in his bedroom. Robinson and his stooges are forced to hide the bodies before his future son-in-law (Willard Parker), who happens to be a cop, tumbles to the dilemma. Based on a stage play by Howard Lindsay and Damon Runyon, A Slight Case of Murder a just as entertaining in the 1990s as it was fifty years ago (please ignore a tepid 1953 musical remake titled Stop, You're Killing Me). Surprisingly, this film was not a favorite of star Edward G. Robinson, who felt that director Lloyd Bacon rushed through the material without taking full advantage of its comic potential. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, Jane Bryan, (more)
- 1938
Less lurid than its title, Port of Missing Grils was one of several directorial efforts by screenwriter/cinematographer Karl Brown. After being framed for murder, heroine Della (Judith Allen) eludes both the police and the reel killer by stowing away on the freighter skippered by tough-but-kindly Captain Storm (Harry Carey). One she's discovered, Della falls in love with the vessel's wireless operator Jim (Milburn Stone). All three protagonists experience a series of hairbreadth adventures in Shanghai before word comes in from San Francisco that Della's been cleared of all charges. This Monogram low-budgeter is fun to watch but a bit hard to follow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judith Allen, Milburn Stone, (more)
- 1938
In Two Gun Justice, Tim McCoy indulges in one of his favorite cinematic pastimes: Posing as a suave Mexican bandit, complete with paint-on mustache and Latino accent. The plot contrives to have McCoy go into his "Si, senorita" routine to infiltrate the outlaw gang headed by a nasty galoot named Bart (John Merton). Though his Pancho Villa routine wouldn't convince a cow in real life, McCoy manages to hornswoggle the villains and deliver them to the Long Arm of the Law. Betty Compson and Joan Barclay play the film's two heroines, both of them left in the lurch as our hero gallops off to new adventures. Two Gun Justice was one of a brace of McCoy vehicles helmed by veteran western hand Alan James. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim McCoy, Betty Compson, (more)
- 1938
With Glenda Farrell having temporarily taken leave of Warner Bros., the actress' signature role of fast-talking girl reporter Torchy Blane was taken over by Lola Lane in Torchy Blane in Panama. Also absent from the proceedings is Barton MacLane as Torchy's loudmouthed police-lieutenant boyfriend Steve McBride; he's been replaced by Paul Kelly, who is frankly better in the role. The plot takes flight when a New York fraternal convention is interrupted by a daring bank robbery. Hoping to crack the story and outscoop her rival newshounds, Torchy Blane heads to Panama by plane, parachute and ocean liner. She manages to beat the other reporters to the punch, and to capture the mastermind of the robbery, with the surprisingly able assistance of McBride's dum-dum sergeant Gahagan (Tom Kennedy). Lola Lane is adequate as Torchy, but there was only one Glenda Farrell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Kelly, Tom Kennedy, (more)
- 1938
Blondes at Work is number four in Warner Bros.' lively "Torchy Blane" series. Glenda Farrell returns as girl reporter Torchy Blane, she of the mile-a-minute mouth, while Barton MacLane is back as Torchy's boyfriend/sparring partner, police lieutenant Steve McBride. The story revolves around Torchy's ability to constantly out-scoop her rival newshounds, thanks to tips inadvertently dropped by the loquacious McBride and his stupid assistant Gahagan (Tom Kennedy). Things come to a head when Torchy tries to get the low-down on a sensational murder case involving suspected husband-killer Louise Revelle (Rosella Towne). If the plot twists in Blondes at Work seem familiar, it's because the film is a remake of the 1935 Bette Davis vehicle Front Page Woman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, (more)
Veteran cinematographer Karl Brown also had several directorial efforts to his credit. Most were on a par with Monogram's Under the Big Top: slick and mildly entertaining, but not much more. Circus aerialist Penny (Anne Nagel) may be the queen of the trapeze, but she can't seem to manage her life on solid ground. She spends most of the film as the romantic bone of contention between her partners Pablo and Ricardo (Grant Richards and Jack LaRue incongruously cast as brothers). Hostilities break up the act, but by film's end the hatchets have been buried and "The Three Flying Pennies" are soaring again. Future "Ma Kettle" Marjorie Main has a sizeable role as a circus manager. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Nagel, Marjorie Main, (more)
- 1937
Two Minutes to Play is a cheap but energetic Sam Katzman-produced vehicle for Olympic champion Herman Brix. The star plays Martin Granville, an over-aged but undeniably muscular college football hero. Martin finds himself in competition with Jack Gaines (Eddie Nugent) for the affections of cute coed Pat Meredith (Jeanne Martel). In this way, Martin and Jack are emulating their respective fathers, who'd been bitter rivals ever since their own college days. As expected, the story, and its attendant conflicts, are resolved in the climactic Big Game. Herman Brix did rather better for himself when he moved to Columbia and changed his screen name to Bruce Bennett. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Nugent, Jeanne Martel, (more)
- 1937
June Travis plays a trapeze star who becomes the romantic bone of contention between Robert Livingston and Charles Jerome. Silent movie veterans Betty Compson and Charlie Murray lend their expertise to this Republic 7-reeler. The aerialist scenes are performed by the Escalante Family Troupe, who also contributed their breathtaking skills to such Hollywood films as Tarzan, the Ape Man (1932),and the Marx Bros.' At the Circus. One of the scripters of Circus Girl was Bradford Ropes, author of the quintessential backstage yarn 42nd Street. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Travis, Donald Cook, (more)
